


Til' Kingdom Come

by ddnnk



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Angst, Blow Jobs, Bottom Hyuk, Comfort/Angst, Eventual Smut, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Heavy Angst, Royalty, hyuken main
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-12 02:30:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13537791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddnnk/pseuds/ddnnk
Summary: Han Sanghyuk is an adolescent crown prince and Lee Jaehwan is an assassin that doesn't do his job very well.





	1. Chapter 1

Han Sanghyuk is running again. It’s a warm summer evening and the sun falls upon the palace like a comforting orange blanket. Sometimes the large compound of the palace could make Sanghyuk feel like he was free – their land spanned over yards and yards of land, even larger than the village itself. The lovely hills are like waves, uniform and steady, blocking the sun from shining directly into the eyes.

 

Sanghyuk lets out a loud sigh as he made his way to the usual place – a hole in the fence hidden by an enormous oak tree which leads to the forest. Sanghyuk loves the forest. It’s green and thick, and no one can find him unless they tried really hard.

 

They always kept an eye on him. Being the only son of his family and the predetermined crown prince, every single soul in the castle was instructed to ensure Sanghyuk’s safety. Sanghyuk knows that they mean well but he can’t help feeling suffocated, stifled, as if he’s trapped in a box for the entirety of his life. Juxtaposed to the size of the palace grounds, well, Sanghyuk always feels like he’s in a tank and people are ogling at him.

 

It’s worse when they bring in young maidens, making him choose one to be his future wife. He feels terrible for them, stowed away from their families at young, ripe ages, at moments where they should be enjoying their youth, to stay in this dull, old palace, away from their friends and family. Sanghyuk throws a hissy fit whenever this happens. It makes him look like a complete brat, but deep down he knows that the girls felt relieved.

 

Sanghyuk’s thoughts clear up like the clouds in the evening sky when he reaches the top of the hill, nothing compared to the ones in his view, but at least it’s something. He lets out another sigh, to freedom. His ten minutes of freedom a week. His heart is sitting heavy in his chest but at least his head feels light, floating with the clouds. He would smile if he could, but his face was permanently drawn into a scowl.

 

No one is ever around when Sanghyuk goes to the hills. Today, the bushes are rustling though there is no wind, and he can hear someone grunting from behind them. Sanghyuk raises an eyebrow - whoever that was isn’t very good at hiding, and Sanghyuk even manages to spot a foot sticking out from behind the bush. “Who’s there?” He asks, strongly and clearly, while the person behind the bush retracts their leg hurriedly.

 

“I already saw you,” Sanghyuk feels amused, really. He hasn’t interacted with anyone out of the castle for a few years now, and he always only said the same few words. The bush rustles again. “You’re not very good at hiding.”

 

“Go away,” the voice behind the bush replies, it’s a male’s voice but it’s childish, which added more to his amusement. Sanghyuk wants to know who was behind that bush – he lifts himself off the damp grass and approaches it, not one bit wary at all.

 

A figure emerges from the bush, draped in black clothes. He was covering his mouth with a black cloth and Sanghyuk jumps back – this was probably an assassin. For some odd reason, he doesn’t feel that scared, approaching the figure again, trying to figure out what’s under the cloth. How he looked like under the cloth.

 

“You know, you should go soon.” Sanghyuk speaks to the figure casually.

 

“My friend might be coming anytime soon and you’re going to be killed, dressed like that and all.” Sanghyuk continues, looking at the colors of the sky. Wonshik comes when the sun goes down. “You look like an assassin.” A hurtful thing to say to an assassin, and the figure turns to run, not looking back whatsoever.

 

“Young master,” the annoyingly familiar voice rings out from behind Sanghyuk’s shoulders and he sighs irritably. “You mustn’t go running out of the castle.”

 

“And you shouldn’t spend all your time following me around. You aren’t much older than me, you know?” Sanghyuk retorts, watching the figure grow smaller and smaller. “What’s there?” Wonshik raises an eyebrow.

 

“None of your business,” Sanghyuk replies, turning back to Wonshik when the figure finally disappears. “I’m hungry. What’s for dinner tonight?”

 

Wonshik was his servant, but also his friend. The adults at the castle would freak out of Sanghyuk ever verbalizes the word “friend” about Wonshik - they’re too stuck up for their own good. Sanghyuk wants to set Wonshik free so that he could find happiness of his own. Sanghyuk wants to set everyone free. He doesn’t want to rule them. He never wants to be a king.

 

 

+

 

 

_Sanghyuk is running in the forest, like he does every week, except this time the sky’s dark, and he keeps tripping over the tree branches scattered all over the floor. It’s too dark, and he’s getting tired and frustrated. He wants to stop but he can’t bring himself to stop, his legs still exerting themselves. He’s so tired. But he can’t stop. His legs are giving out but they won’t stop._

_Sanghyuk grimaces as he falls especially hard, feeling a sharp, acute pain shoot all the way up his back and he crawls on his fours, panting loudly and unsteadily. “I’ll kill you by tonight,” whatever was chasing him growls out, its voice distorted, creeping up Sanghyuk’s neck and sending shivers down his spine. He didn’t dare to open his eyes._

_“I’ll kill you by tonight,” the loud, booming voice repeated again. “I’ll kill you by tonight.”_

_It grabs his hand, sharp fingernails piercing into Sanghyuk’s skin. “Stop!” Sanghyuk yelled, opening his eyes._

He sits up from his bed, head pounding and heart racing as he wipes the beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his face and his neck, trying to regain his breath. It almost feels as if he was actually running, Sanghyuk was feeling the giddiness of running a large distance.

 

He checks the time by looking out the window, and it’s clearly already dawn, the start of a new day, the sky slowly turning into a shade of pink, clouds looking like cotton. The air looks crystal clear but Sanghyuk’s head isn’t. He collapses back into bed, shutting his eyes, shutting his previous dream out, hands gripping on tightly to the blanket in front of him.

 

Was he seeing the right thing? Was he still dreaming? Sanghyuk opens his eyes wide in disbelief at the bright red marks around the wrist of his left hand, fresh blood pooling around the bigger cuts. The sheets around his hands are stained red. He controls himself, trying to stay calm and not to shriek in horror, wiping the blood off on his sheets. He doesn’t know how he’s going to explain this to Wonshik.

 

After a few minutes of contemplation and everyone in the palace making a huge fuss about the mere cuts on Sanghyuk’s wrist, his wounds are bandaged up and he’s going downstairs for breakfast (unlike his usual in-room breakfast) – overhearing the guards talking about how they were going to tighten the security further, Sanghyuk is afraid that they might take away his weekly alone time. He could barely eat his breakfast, breathing heavy and face white as a sheet whenever he recalled his dream.

 

Whatever or whoever that was, Sanghyuk never wants to see him again. The hushed murmurs quieten down when heavy footsteps entered the room, the king was here. Sanghyuk watches as he shuns the guards away and sits on the floor, directly opposite Sanghyuk. He dares not look him in the eyes. “Son.”

 

“Father,” Sanghyuk puts down his spoon, takes a huge gulp and finally meets his eyes. “Do not leave royal grounds from now on. You are a crown prince. You need to be safe at all times.”

 

“Father, I just need some time alone so that I can-” Sanghyuk flares up almost immediately – he would rather anything else but his freedom. “You are important. Your life is important. You need to be alive.” His majesty says coldly, harshly, as if Sanghyuk was not his son but just a mere successor, as though the country and the family’s pride meant more than his son’s life. He stands up to leave, not even turning back once. He’s always so cold. It’s about time Sanghyuk got used to it. After all, his dad was his only family.

 

Wonshik enters the room immediately after the king leaves, a perplexed look plastered on his face as he stuttered to get his words out. “I’m afraid I can’t allow you to go out anymore, your highness.”

 

“I know,” Sanghyuk sighs. “You could just roam around the castle with young master Hongbin,” Wonshik suggests.

 

“Shut up, stop calling him young master. He’s your age.” Sanghyuk replies, picking at his food. “I’ve lost my appetite.”

 

“You have to eat, your highness – you must.”

 

“Stop talking like that. Speak to me casually, there aren’t any guards around,” Sanghyuk insists. “And take me to Hongbin. I haven’t seen him in a while. By a while I mean over ten hours but I have nothing to do inside this castle anyway.”

 

“You must eat your breakfast-” Wonshik repeats and Sanghyuk lets out a loud sigh of defeat. “Yeah, yeah, I will. But we have to see Hongbin after I’m done.”

 

Wonshik nods eagerly, sitting upright and frozen while Sanghyuk forces down his breakfast – turns out he still was hungry, after all. Wonshik takes his side when he gets off the floor, out of the room and to the other wing of the palace, turning the heads of every guard standing by the doors. “Going somewhere, your highness?” The main guard questions Sanghyuk and then raises an eyebrow at Wonshik.

 

“No, sir, we’re visiting young master Hongbin,” Wonshik replies. “We?” The guard scoffs.

 

“Prince Sanghyuk, I mean,” Wonshik corrects himself, glacing down at the floor. “No, we’re visiting Hongbin together.” Sanghyuk states, looking the guard straight in the eye – the guard couldn’t do anything but look ashamed.

 

“You don’t have to dehumanize him,” Sanghyuk scowled. “Wonshik, let’s go.”

 

Wonshik trails behind him, smaller than he was previously. Sanghyuk rolls his eyes. “I’m so tired of all these statuses. Why can’t they just treat each other like human beings?”

 

“That’s just how it works. We just have to live through that,” Wonshik shrugs.

 

“I hate being put on a pedestal.” Sanghyuk states, pushing Hongbin’s room door open without even knocking. “Hyuk, you shouldn’t just open someone’s door like-” Wonshik starts.

 

Sanghyuk turns his back and smirks at Wonshik – “You’re finally talking to me casually.”

 

“What are you doing here?” Hongbin emerges from the other side of the door in his robes, looking the other two up and down.

 

“Going somewhere?” Sanghyuk raises an eyebrow.

 

“I was going to watch the soldiers practice their shooting,” Hongbin says.

 

“Why do you like arrows so much?”

 

The other shrugs. “They’re cool. What are you here for?”

 

Wonshik seemed to shrink at the sight of Hongbin, his entire body hidden behind Sanghyuk’s. “Wonshik, what are you doing?” The younger frowns.

 

“You guys should hang out,” Sanghyuk says to Hongbin. “He’s your age, you know?”

 

“Yeah, why not. I’m bored to death in this castle,” Hongbin sighs, angling his neck in such a way where he could see Wonshik. “Young master, I’m not allowed to talk to you casually-”

 

“Come on, drop the honorifics. We need friends too,” Hongbin interrupts. “I should be going somewhere. Wonshik, if they ask you why you’re here tell them that I demanded you stay with Hongbin.”

 

“Your highness, where are you going-” “To see my dad,” Sanghyuk lied through his teeth.

 

“Uh,” Hongbin starts awkwardly while Wonshik scratches his head. “We can look at general Taekwoon or something.”

 

“He’s in love with Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk teases and Hongbin glares. “Shut up, I’m not. He can’t even do archery.”

 

“Wonshik can,” Sanghyuk points to the elder whose face was visibly flushed.

 

“Anyway, I have to see him soon. Be back in an hour or two,” He waves, walking back into the castle, but escaping through the back door once all backs are turned.

 

Sanghyuk just has to go through the guards at the back door but they were easy anyway – he could just tell them that his father was meeting him outside. They check on him every ten minutes but at least he gets a short moment of freedom. As soon as he’s out the door, he runs to the big oak tree, out of the hole in the fence, to the hill. It was the first time he's ever gone out of the compounds in two consecutive days. 

 

Maybe he could meet the amusing figure again.

 

Sanghyuk sighs as loudly as he could just because he can. He never wanted to show the immense amount of discontentment he felt whenever he was in the palace as he already knew how privileged he was compared to the workers in the palace, to the peasants of his kingdom. But it’s still a little sad that he tastes no freedom, and he can’t help but pity himself.

 

Instead of the figure coming back, as Sanghyuk anticipated, Wonshik and Hongbin come running from behind him, both panting, arms interlocked, their cheeks flushed red and their eyes flash like they’re having the time of their lives.

 

“What’s up?” Sanghyuk raises an eyebrow – Hongbin shrugs, noticing how his hand was intertwined with Wonshik and he drops it immediately. “Nothing,” he replies breathlessly.

 

“You said that you weren’t going to misbehave,” Wonshik narrows his eyes at Sanghyuk. “You said you were going to meet his Majesty. Why are you here?”

 

“I wanted to,” Sanghyuk replies.

 

Wonshik glares at Sanghyuk in a way that might’ve gotten him executed if they were still in the castle.

 

They sat on the top of the hill, chatting about every possible thing under the sun but what stands out the most to Sanghyuk is the fun that they used to had when they were young – Hongbin’s eyes glisten every time he remembers something and Wonshik smiles at the two of them fondly, unable to relate. The corners of Hongbin’s mouth curve up and he lets out a hearty laugh, so full and genuinely happy.

 

“I missed you guys,” he says, as if they haven’t seen each other for the longest time.

 

“But we’ve been seeing each other every day,” Wonshik looks at the other with confused eyes.

 

“We haven’t been seeing each other outside…” Hongbin replies, glancing down on the floor. “Besides, I haven’t had so much fun in a while.”

 

“If there comes a day I become the king,” Sanghyuk sighs, letting out the dreaded words. It’s bound to happen someday, and he really doesn’t want it. “I don’t know what I would do. I’d give your family the best house, Wonshik.”

 

“Thank you,” Wonshik beamed with joy. And they sat there until the sun slowly falls, until the yellow blanket is draped over the entire landscape again. Happiness. The calm before the storm.

 

 

+

 

 

The light peeks into Sanghyuk’s room through a space between the curtains – shining directly on his eyelids, his vision nothing but an orange screen. He forces his eyes open.

 

The hours of the day are spent doing nothing memorable and the day just goes by in a flash, in the blink of an eye, and soon Sanghyuk’s in his bed again, staring up at the ceiling, in the darkness, head devoid of thoughts, heart devoid of emotions. Every day was the same.

 

He closes his eyes and he starts to drift off, until someone bursts into the room. Sanghyuk keeps his eyes closed, pretending to not notice as the footsteps grow louder and louder, whoever it was undeniably approaching him.  “Wonshik, let me sleep,” Sanghyuk mumbles, turning to his side. No response.

 

The lack of response signals to him that there’s something wrong and Sanghyuk opens his eyes, looking at whoever was standing by the side of his bed. It’s so dark and he can barely see but he makes out a figure, completely draped in black, kind of like the figure he saw in the hills.

 

This figure holds something sharp and shiny, the only thing that Sanghyuk could make out from the dim moonlight shining through the same space between the curtains. Is it weird that he doesn’t feel a sense of danger at all? His bed’s so comfortable. He just wants to sleep forever.

 

In a moment of impulse, Sanghyuk sighs. “Kill me if you want.”

 

The figure approaches him while holding the knife higher up, adjusting its grip on it hesitantly. The door bursts open again and the lights are switched on, but as soon as they are, the figure disappears and Wonshik is standing by the doorway, along with Hongbin and a couple of other guards.

 

The boiling point.

 

“Your highness,” Wonshik exclaimed. Sanghyuk senses the emergency in his voice and lifts himself off the bed groggily, rubbing his eyes.

 

“What?” Sanghyuk replies.

 

“His majesty is dead,” the head commander states calmly. The words don’t stink in.

 

“What?” He repeats.

 

“There is an assassin in these compounds. He has killed His majesty.” He repeats, and the words don’t slap as sharply as he thought they would. They don’t even hit him. They brush against his ears.

 

His father is dead. The king is dead. There will be a new king. He is the new king.

 

“I apologize for having to bring this up now. But it is urgent. We have to discuss what’s going to happen tomorrow morning,” the head commander says. He knew the relationship Sanghyuk had with his father. “We will be guarding your door extra carefully tonight.”

 

Sanghyuk remembers the figure but doesn’t bring it up. “Can you please let Hongbin and Wonshik stay here, with me?”

 

The head commander nodded with whatever compassion he had left in his body, sending the rest of the army down the halls and shutting the door behind Hongbin and Wonshik. Hongbin looks at him apologetically.

 

“What am I going to do?” Sanghyuk asks mindlessly. Nothing in his brain is pushing him to cry – his eyes were as dry as ever.

 

“They will crown you tomorrow,” Wonshik adds, and this hits Sanghyuk hard. Soon he was hysterical. “I don’t want to be the king. I don’t want to rule the people. I can’t even manage myself, let a whole kingdom. I don’t know what I’m doing and-”

 

“There’s something- or someone under your bed,” Hongbin’s eyes widen.

 

The three stay silent as the figure shows itself again, brandishing its shiny knife. Wonshik lunges forward, pushing the figure down, and the knife slides across the floor, towards the other side of the room. Hongbin picks it up.

 

“We’ll call the guards,” Hongbin starts.

 

“No.” Sanghyuk replies.

 

“What?”

 

“Wait.” The youngest says, watching the figure writhe under Wonshik.

 

“Wonshik, take off his mask.”

 

Wonshik looks at Sanghyuk as if he’s the most foolish person in the world. “What? We have to get rid of him now-”

 

“I said, take off his mask!” Sanghyuk interrupts and Wonshik gulps, moving his hands to the figure who was shaking its head profusely, using all means to keep the mask on its face. Wonshik rips it off to reveal a face that Sanghyuk has never seen before.

 

He has large doll eyes and a high nose bridge, plump lips and a perplexed look on his face, squinting as the light shines in his unfamiliar eyes. He’s an assassin, but Sanghyuk feels drawn towards him. He feels like he could trust him.

 

“Tell me,” Sanghyuk starts without hesistating, “do you know how I can leave this place without those guards seeing?”

 

He nods frantically. “Yes, I know a way.”

 

“I’m going with him,” Sanghyuk declares, and the other two stare in disbelief.

 

“You can’t just go with him like that, you can’t trust him! You don’t know what he does and-”

 

“If I were to die,” Sanghyuk looks the man directly in the eyes, “I would want to be killed outside the compounds of this palace.”

 

The assassin’s expression softens for a split second. “So, are you with me or not? I won’t force you to go if you don’t want to. But I’m going. And none of you are going to change my mind.”

 

The assassin frowns like he’s unable to understand any of Sanghyuk’s words as Wonshik lifted him to his feet.

 

“You’re leaving the whole kingdom to die,” Wonshik mutters softly.

 

“It would’ve been worse if I were the king,” Sanghyuk laughs bitterfly. “I wouldn’t know what to do at all. I’m still a kid, why would they trust me with this?”

 

“Maybe it _is_ time for a new revolution,” Hongbin fiddles with the knife in his hands. Sanghyuk nods.

 

“And even if it isn’t, the higher-ups in the army would be glad to be the new ruler. Dad has worked with some of them and he trusts them, so I trust them. He might not have been the best dad but he was a good king.”

 

Wonshik stands behind the assassin, eyes shut like he’s thinking hard.

 

“And you,” Sanghyuk turns to the assassin. “I’m not the king anymore. And you will tell your boss that I’m dead when I disappear. I’ll never come back, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

 

The assassin nods quickly and winces in pain as Wonshik tightened his grip on him. At the other side of the room, Hongbin gulps loudly. “I’m in.”

 

“You?” Sanghyuk turns to Wonshik.

 

“Okay.”

 

Soon the assassin’s breaking the windows in Sanghyuk’s room, climbing the walls before jumping off to land behind the palace, near the fence that Sanghyuk frequented. Hongbin’s struggling to cling on for his life but he thankfully manages to jump off and land safely on his feet. The assassin commands them to follow him in a hushed whisper and they move towards the fences.

 

It all hits so hard – the figure had seen him that day and figured out how he could make it into the castle without anyone noticing. Sanghyuk zones out for a moment but snaps out of it as soon as the assassin grabs his arm and pulls him out of the hole in the fence, out of the palace grounds, into the wilderness.

 

Away from mundane life, away from the respect that everyone had from him. Sanghyuk is an irresponsible king, thank god he isn’t a king anymore.

 

“Come on, run, we don’t have much time,” the assassin growls, his voice more whiny than demanding.

 

Hongbin and Wonshik grab on to each other’s hands, following the sound that was made whenever the assassin stepped on the ground. The leaves mash against each other, making a loud crunch, giving away their exact location. 

 

“You have them?” A menacing voice growled from somewhere in front of the assassin, and they stopped for a second before the assassin grips Sanghyuk’s arm again, running as quickly as he possibly could, Wonshik and Hongbin still following suit.

 

“Stay right there. I’m going to kill you!” Sanghyuk hears the familiar sound of arrows getting shot but they don’t stop, they keep running and they can’t stop.

 

The footsteps quieten down to just the footsteps of the four of them but they keep running. Sanghyuk wants to ask how long more they had to go but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

 

The silence is so loud. It's deafening. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He doesn't really understand what's happening, but he knows that this isn't the right time and place to feel this way.

Soon, the sky lightens to a dark blue and they fall to the ground, somewhere in the forest, panting profusely as the assassin gets up, looking around for something. He seems to spot it from a distance and points to a cottage hidden behind a tree. “Come on, we only have a little more to go.” The assassin points to it.

 

Sanghyuk glances at Wonshik and Hongbin, both collapsed to the floor. “Think you can do it?”

 

Hongbin remains on the ground, eyes shut and breathing steadily while Wonshik stares at him, eyes flickering in fear. “What’s wrong with him?”

 

Then Sanghyuk notices the blood all over the side of Hongbin’s robes, and the arrow. “We have to get him there quickly. Get him on your back. Now.”

 

Wonshik lifts the other onto his back with all the strength he had left, his eyes welling up with tears as he looked Sanghyuk in the eyes with the most pained expression. “What are we going to do if he- if he dies?”

 

“He’s not going to die,” Sanghyuk says, a type of confidence in his voice. “We just have to get him there as quickly as possible and get his wound treated. Calm down.”

 

Wonshik nods like he wants to trust Sanghyuk, tears beading down his face held on tightly to Hongbin. “Do you want me to carry him?” Sanghyuk offers, and the elder shakes his head.

 

“He got shot hours ago, and he’s been running till now. He’s lost so much blood, what if-”

 

“Wonshik. He is not going to die. We just have to get him there as soon as we can so he can recover quickly,” Sanghyuk points to the cottage, not that far anymore. The assassin stops in his tracks to look.

 

“He got shot too?” The assassin raised an eyebrow, and Sanghyuk nods. “It’s okay. They have medicine in there. And a doctor. Don’t worry.”

 

Sanghyuk’s starting to question if the man really was an assassin, and then it all clicked. Oh god.

 

They made their way to the house in silence, the only thing heard was the crunching of the leaves beneath their feet as they made each new step. Soon they were approaching, and the assassin taps on the door with a kind of rhythm, maybe a sign to the occupant that it was him there. The door creaks open and there stands someone that Sanghyuk has never seen before.

 

His eyes are uneven but they fit nicely into his small face, bangs covering his forehead entirely and lips soft and red. His neck looks longer than a usual neck, Sanghyuk notices. It looks a little funny but Sanghyuk has some situational awareness – now wasn’t the time.

 

His eyes widen. “His majesty is-”

 

“We don’t have time to talk, hyung. Someone’s injured.” The assassin interrupts and the man nods, opening the door wide for them to enter.

 

“Oh dear. Put him on the bed,” the man says to Wonshik, who tries to lay Hongbin down on the nearest bed as softly as possible. The cottage was larger than it looked, with a kitchen and dining area, a bed in the living room and a couple of other doors. Sanghyuk looks around curiously and the assassin seems to have noticed. He looks at Sanghyuk with a look that Sanghyuk can’t decipher.

 

“After you’re done with him, I need your help,” the assassin nudges the man who raises an eyebrow. The assassin points to a broken arrow stuck into his right arm, which Sanghyuk didn’t notice before. The man nods.

 

“Your majesty, please take a seat,” The man motions to the sofa as he cut open the layers in Hongbin’s robe, observing the placement of the arrow. Sanghyuk opens his mouth to inform the man that he wasn’t the king anymore but decided that now wasn’t the time.

 

“No major organs there. He’s going to be okay,” The man assures Wonshik sighs loudly and heavily in relief.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Sanghyuk clears his throat and turns to the assassin. “Is this an okay time for me to talk to you?”

 

The assassin shakes his head. He’s so cold. His hair is a mess, there’s a small cut across his cheek and he has a busted lip, dirt on his face and hands and dried blood on his clothes, not the most visible because they were all black. Sanghyuk figures that he probably doesn’t look any better.

 

Sanghyuk closes his eyes in an attempt to process all the things that had happened the night before, unable to process most of them because never did he ever expect to be free. He thought his life was going to be trapped within the confinements of the palace forever.

 

But he’s here, in a cottage, hours away from the palace, in a forest which no one knows what lies in. It’s beautiful, really, how life takes you out and pushes you along and twists your fate. Beautifully sick.

 

Now he’s here, with two of his favorite people, a doctor, and an assassin that risked his own life to save him. Now the light shines from all corners in the warm, mysterious cottage of his heart. He’s with the people that actually care for him, and not the people that care for the king.

 

If he had the choice to turn back time, he wouldn’t.

 

He opens his eyes and shuts them again, letting his head tilt forward as he falls into deep slumber.

 

 

+

 

 

“Wake up, we should have dinner,” someone mumbles into Sanghyuk’s ears – an unfamiliar yet soothing voice, and he lifts his eyelids open slowly, covering his mouth as he yawned. That nap made him feel much better, having lost a whole night’s sleep.

 

He’s thankful that he isn’t dreaming when he opens his eyes fully and all he sees are the wooden walls of the cottage, along with the concerned face of the doctor looking at him straight in the eyes, slightly too close for goodness’ sake. Sanghyuk stands up groggily and follows the doctor to wherever he was taking him. He glances around the living room – Hongbin’s still on the bed, his torso now bandaged up and the dirt cleaned off his face.

 

He enters what seemed like the kitchen and sat down in front of the spread on the table.

 

“Let’s eat,” the doctor says with his warm and comforting voice, and they do, Sanghyuk throwing occasional glances at the assassin while Wonshik eats like he hasn’t eaten in ten years. Maybe Sanghyuk should stop calling him the assassin in his head. He saved Sanghyuk.

 

“Can you explain what just happened in the past twenty-four hours?” Sanghyuk suddenly pipes up, and the assassin looks a little taken aback but probably decided that it was about time he explained everything instead of keeping them in the dark.

 

The doctor nods. It seems like he too doesn’t know what’s going on.

 

“Well, I-I was forced to kill you, but I didn’t because I’m not an assassin anymore.” He says.

 

“About time,” the doctor retorts. “I’ve been telling you to quit all this time.”

 

“But they give good money!” The assassin- or _not_ assassin replies, his voice slightly exasperated. “So, I quit my job last night.”

 

“You decided to quit the moment you had us?” Sanghyuk asks and he nods. “But… why?”

 

He shrugs, causing a million possibilities to show themselves in Sanghyuk’s brain. Perhaps he did care.

 

The doctor clears his throat. “Have we introduced ourselves yet? I’m Cha Hakyeon. I’m not actually a doctor, I just know how to do… all this stuff.” He makes a motion with his hand.

 

“I’m Lee Jaehwan,” he says, trailing off at the end. So that’s the assassin’s name.

 

“He’s Kim Wonshik, my friend.” Sanghyuk points to Wonshik who looks back with a certain fear in his eyes. “We’re not in the palace anymore. I can finally call you my friend.”

 

“And my other friend out there is Lee Hongbin,” Sanghyuk continues. “I’m-”

 

“Han Sanghyuk, we know,” Hakyeon interrupts. “You’ve been missing for over a day. Do you think anyone’s worried?”

 

Sanghyuk shrugs. “I don’t know. But I’m sure they’ll find someone who’s a better king than me to replace me.”

 

“Why did you want to leave so bad? I can’t wrap my finger around it. You seem like you’d be a great king. I mean, from the way you talked to your friends,” Jaehwan asks, playing with the food in his bowl. “And since you’re no longer the king, I think it’s time you start using honorifics. Hakyeon-hyung and I are older than you.”

 

Sanghyuk has never used honorifics towards anyone except his father.

 

“Stop playing with your food,” Hakyeon mumbles under his breath, glaring at Jaehwan. Jaehwan notices and puts his spoon down, pouting to himself like a baby (not an assassin).

 

“Hyung,” he mutters the word under his breath, the unfamiliar syllable.

 

“Wait, if you ran away from the other assassins with us, does that mean that you’re now on the run too?” Sanghyuk asks. “…hyung?”

 

Jaehwan nods. “Yeah, probably.”

 

“You’re probably going to have to wait for all of this to cool down before you can show your face again. I mean, let them crown the new king first. Maybe then Sanghyuk’s life would be worthless.” Hakyeon says and Sanghyuk narrows his eyes at the elder.

 

Dinner ends quickly, and soon Wonshik and Sanghyuk were showed to their shared room with two mattresses on the floor, Wonshik collapsing on his immediately while Sanghyuk takes his time, his mind still cluttered.

 

“So.” Wonshik starts. “How do you feel about this?”

 

“I really need a shower,” Sanghyuk replies, realizing that part of the stench his nose could smell was from him. Wonshik chuckles lightly.

 

“I hope Hongbin will be fine soon,” Wonshik sighs, pulling the sheets over him.

 

Sanghyuk turns to the elder. “He’ll be fine, Wonshik. And maybe after that, you could maybe confess your feelings for him-”

 

“What feelings?”

 

“Oh, you don’t have to lie,” Sanghyuk grins. He’s noticed this a long time ago. It was pretty obvious.

 

Wonshik swallows loudly. “I might not ever do so.”

 

“Why?” Sanghyuk raises an eyebrow.

 

“I’m a servant, and I have to stay timid and obedient forever. And I don’t want to ruin my friendship with him. I’m already lucky enough to be with the two of you. And outside the castle.”

 

“Wonshik,” Sanghyuk pats him on the shoulder lightly. “We’re not in the castle anymore. You're not my servant. We're equals, you, me and Hongbin. We’re friends. And I’m sure that he’s fond of you too, but I won’t rush you if you aren’t ready. I guess I shouldn't have sounded so pushy when I was saying all that.”

 

“Thank you,” the elder sighs softly before switching to his side.

 

“Good night, Wonshik,” Sanghyuk says, looking out of the window, at the numerous stars on the night sky, a view that he was never able to see in the castle. Nostalgia waves over him, nostalgia that he can’t figure out for some reason. Maybe he’s seen this place in his dreams. Maybe it was all déjà vu.

 

He sincerely hopes that he’ll still be here when he wakes up the next morning; that all this isn’t a dream but the new reality.

 

“Good night, Hyuk.”

 

 

+

 

 

Sanghyuk lifts his heavy eyelids with much difficulty – he didn’t expect to be able to sleep so well even after the long nap he took. The sunlight doesn’t seep in through a crack in the curtains – the sunlight covered him completely, making him warm.

 

Wonshik was no longer next to him, but instead already out of the room, standing by Hongbin’s bed – he wasn’t awake yet, Sanghyuk assumed, since his eyelids were still shut. Sanghyuk gets up and stumbles a little, holding the open door for support.

 

“Has he woken up?” Sanghyuk asks, clearing his throat, his voice still slightly raspy and cracking. Wonshik shakes his head.

 

“He probably was really tired,” Hakyeon adds, appearing from nowhere, giving Sanghyuk a slight shock. Hakyeon chuckles. “Which is why he hasn’t woken up. Don’t worry. I checked his pulse and everything else, he’s fine.”

 

“You guys need to take a shower and get changed.” He continues, eyeing Sanghyuk and Wonshik up and down.

 

Sanghyuk nods while his eyes search the room for no one in particular. “Where’s the assas- Jaehwan?”

 

“He’s still asleep,” Hakyeon replies. “We can wait for him to wake up and he’ll take you guys to the lake.”

 

“You don’t have water here?” Sanghyuk’s eyes widen, staring at the elder in disbelief while Hakyeon gives another light chuckle and nods, reconfirming the original statement. Wonshik looks shocked as well, the castle still provided the servants with at least a bathhouse.

 

“I don’t know how Hongbin’s going to react to this,” Sanghyuk grins, gazing fondly at the other sprawled out on the bed, his best friend. “I hope he wakes up soon. He’s still clueless about everything, probably.”

 

After an hour too long of waiting for Jaehwan, Hakyeon grows impatient and decides to take matters into his own hands, getting up from the sofa with a loud tut and barging into the room at the end of the hall. “Lee Jaehwan, wake up!” Was the only thing Sanghyuk could make out from their conversation – the rest of it was muffled and inaudible.

 

Jaehwan walks out the room with his hair ruffled and sleep in his eyes, gripping on to the walls as if he hasn’t walked in weeks. Hakyeon follows behind with a disapproving glance. The younger yawned loudly, covering his mouth as he dragged himself towards a mirror and fixes his hair while Hakyeon just stands behind him, watching.

 

“Did you forget that we have them now?” Hakyeon nudges him and Jaehwan turns to greet Wonshik and Sanghyuk, completely unbaffled. Hakyeon sighs irritably. If Sanghyuk were to be honest, they looked very much like a married couple rather than housemates.

 

Wonshik watches amusedly as Jaehwan motions for them to follow him – Hakyeon dashes to the room to fetch spare towels as well as clean, plain white robes. Sanghyuk takes a quick glance down at his own stained, ripped satin robes, royal red in color but stained brown from the soil. No more comfortable satin robes for him, no more velvet robes. Those might be the only things he misses.

 

He still doesn’t regret leaving.

 

Jaehwan directs them out of the house towards the loud crashing sound of water until their eyes meet a sparkling, majestic waterfall, water falling like crystals, into a river that was clearer than clear, sunlight reflecting off it, making look somewhat glittery.

 

Things seem so much more beautiful outside the palace grounds, it seems as if Sanghyuk has been deprived of everyday things that people usually had rather than the other way round. He was the prince, why wasn’t he satisfied?

 

“We clean ourselves here,” Jaehwan says, his voice still cracked and low, unlike the way it sounded the night before.

 

Wonshik frowns. “Just out here? In the open?”

 

“Yes,” Jaehwan starts, already starting to untie his clothes. “You have to get used to it.”

 

Sanghyuk doesn’t even hesitate, attempting to remove his clothes roughly, dropping his old robes to the floor, as well as his pants, and-

 

“You don’t have to take off your underwear,” Jaehwan laughs, gripping Sanghyuk’s arm to stop him. The younger looks back up at the elder, eyes widened in surprise and embarrassment. His eyes were curved, crinkles around them as he smiled, his teeth white as pearls.

 

Sanghyuk looks away as quickly as he could, looking to Wonshik instead while letting out the most awkward laugh, not wanting to face the two. Wonshik removes his own clothes carefully, pursing his lips to the extent that they’re white when he finally lets go of them.

 

“It’s simple, really. Just go in there,” Jaehwan shrugs, pointing at the body of water, and heading towards it himself. He feels so disconnected. Sanghyuk can’t explain it but Jaehwan just felt so undeniably distant, like he was in a completely different loop, or like he was just completely out of the loop. He was a little off.

 

But he follows him anyway, not because he trusts him but because there’s no one else he could trust. It feels a little dangerous and Jaehwan didn’t make Sanghyuk feel safe the way Hakyeon did. Maybe it’s because Jaehwan was an assassin. Maybe he is, maybe this is just an elaborate plan to trick him into trusting the elder. Maybe he still is an assassin, maybe -

 

“Are you coming in or not?” Jaehwan asks, his eyes still curved, corners of his lips still angled. For a moment, Sanghyuk thinks that there’s no way he wouldn’t trust the man in front of him – for a short moment. He snaps out of it and walks down the dirt path barefooted, towards the lake. Wonshik trails behind him like he always did.

 

Sanghyuk shivers the exact moment he dips a toe into the water, unlike Jaehwan who jumps in without hesitating at all. He wasn’t used to this, the castle always had heaters. Whenever he’s reminded that this was his choice, he pushes himself. Sanghyuk dunks himself in, and Wonshik follows suit behind him again.

 

They get cleaned up quickly, Jaehwan under his own stream of water while Sanghyuk and Wonshik shared one, barely speaking a word as they let the force of the water falling wipe all the dirt off their bodies. Unlike what it felt like at the start, it was starting to get strangely comfortable but Sanghyuk has to remind himself that Jaehwan’s waiting on him and gets out of the water as soon as the other does, Wonshik copying his every move again.

 

“You don’t have to follow me anymore, you know?” Sanghyuk asks, wrapping a towel around his body as water dripped from his hair down his face and into his ears.

 

Wonshik nods. “I'll try.”

 

"Stick to Hongbin from now on. He doesn't like doing things alone." Sanghyuk dries himself off with another towel, watching as Jaehwan unwraps the towel around his waist and -

 

Call it bad luck, but Jaehwan takes a small glance at the younger, his eyes widening as he looked to the direction Sanghyuk's were pointed to. He re-wraps the towel around his waist immediately and runs off to somewhere in the woods while Sanghyuk stares at the empty spot where Jaehwan was standing, eyes widened in disbelief. 

 

Perhaps he's never seen someone else's body besides his own, but he can't help feeling slightly interested. What is this feeling called? Maybe this is some sort of awakening. Sanghyuk frowns in confusion - in a time and place like this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly just a filler/buildup

**Author's Note:**

> i love hyuken
> 
> unbeta'd


End file.
